John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) is said to have landed somewhere on the coast of North America, the first European since the Vikings to do so.  He had received letters patent from Henry VII on 5 March 1496 and was backed by Bristol merchants.  This was his second voyage.

Public statement outside St Paul’s Cathedral that Edward IV had been married to Eleanor Talbot when he married Elizabeth Woodville, declaring the children of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville illegitimate.  This meant that Richard was the next legitimate heir to the throne.  He was offered the crown by the Commons and became King Richard III.

Charter granted to the University of Oxford to appoint a chancellor by Nicholas de Romanis, the papal legate.

Though it is not known when exactly Oxford University was founded, there is evidence of teaching from as early as 1096.  The early structure of the university is impossible to ascertain.  In 1209 there is evidence that by 2 January 1201, a John Grim held the title magister scolorum Oxonie (master of schools of Oxford), which indicates that he was the head of all the schools of Oxford.

The papal legate enhanced the status of the office of the master of schools by his award of 1214, which was accepted and sanctioned by the Bishop of Lincoln, Hugh of Wells.

Source:

M.B. Hackett, ‘The University as a Corporate Body’, in: The Early Oxford Schools, Volume I, ed by J.I.Catto, Oxford University Press, 1984, pp.37-95.  ISBN 0-19-951011-3

The photograph shows the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford  (© Dorothea Preis)

Dorothea Preis

Margaret of York, sister of Edward IV and Richard III, leaves London on her journey to Burgundy to marry Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.  Edward IV allies himself with Burgundy and Brittany against Louis XI of France (the ‘Spider King’).

Elizabeth Woodville allows her younger son Richard to quit sanctuary at Westminster and join his brother Edward at the Tower.

Battle of Stoke Field, Nottinghamshire, between the Yorkists on behalf of “Edward VI” and the Tudor government troops.  On the Yorkist side, John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, a nephew of both Edward IV and Richard III, was killed.  He had been considered heir to the throne of Richard III after the death of Edward of Middleham.  It is not quite clear who “Edward VI” actually claimed to be.  According to Tudor sources he was said to pretend to be Edward, the son of George, Duke of Clarence.  As the real Edward was locked up in the Tower, this was impossible.  There is no surviving evidence who his own supporters said he was.

Bibliography:  Smith, G, ‘Lambert Simnel and the King from Dublin’. The Ricardian, Vol. X, No.135 (December 1996) , pp. 498-536.

Execution of William, 1st Baron Hastings.   He was not attainted and his widow Katherine was placed under Richard’s protection.  With Hastings were arrested John Morton, Bishop of Ely, Thomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York, and Thomas Lord Stanley.  The reasons  and circumstances for his sudden execution remain controversial.  Peter Hancock’s theory that it was because Richard discovered that Hastings knew about the precontract between Edward IV and Eleanor Talbot, but had kept it secret from him, is certainly interesting.

Bibliography:

Peter A Hancock, Richard III and the Murder in the Tower.  The History Press, Stroud, 2009.  ISBN 978 0 7524 5148 0 (hardback)

Richard and his brother George return to England from exile in Burgundy, where they had been sent for their safety after the Yorkist defeat at the Battle of Wakefield, West Yorkshire (30 December 1460).

The photograph shows Ghent (© Dorothea Preis)

RIII Memorial Stone, Leicester Cathedral

David Guy Barnabas Kindersley, stone-carver and type designer, was born in Codicote, Hertfordshire, on 11 June 1915. Among his work is the Richard III Memorial Stone, which used to be in Leicester Cathedral.  The stone is now on loan to the King Richard III Visitor Centre,which also allows access to Richard’s original grave

In the Ricardian Bulletin of December 1982 Jeremy Potter in his AGM report said the following:

“The Leicester Memorial Stone, carved by David Kindersley, dedicated in August, was not a Society project, but that of the Rev T.C.Hunter-Clare; however the Society was glad to have been able to contribute and had much appreciated the dedication service.”

At the previous year’s AGM he said: “The Society had made an initial small donation and a larger later one”.

Around this time the  Leicester Statue fund was wound up and it was agreed the residue would be used for special projects “such as the Leicester Cathedral Memorial and Fotheringhay Chapel.”

More information on David Kindersley: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituariesdavid-kindersley-1571426.html and on Dottie Tales.

Dorothea Preis